The Remington “Split Breech” Carbines holds a number of distinctions in the history of American firearms. The Type 1 carbine is considered to be the first metallic cartridge long arm to be produced by the famous Remington Arms Company, even though they actually outsourced the production. The “Split Breech” was also the last pattern of military carbine to be delivered to the US government during the American Civil War. Finally, the Remington “Split Breech” was the direct predecessor of what would become the most widely used single shot, breechloading, military rifle action of the 19^th century; the “Rolling Block.” 

The development of the split breech action is attributed to Remington engineer and designer Joseph Rider, who was responsible for the myriad of Remington-Rider firearms designs. However, it appears that in reality the Rider design, patented in December of 1863, was quite similar to the design of Leonard Geiger, which had been patented in January of 1863. In order to make sure that no patent infringement suits were ever brought against the company, Remington acquired Geiger’s patent rights in the fall of 1865. With both the Rider and Geiger patent rights in hand; the company had a lock on the “rolling block” action design. 

The Remington .46RF Type I Split Breech Carbine was a compact and rugged, single-shot breech loading carbine. The gun has a color casehardened frame, a blued 20” round barrel and a two-piece stock with a carbine style butt and short, tapered forend. The size, weight and appearance of the carbine was similar to that of the 2^nd Model Maynard carbine. A sling bar and ring was attached to the reverse of the frame. An L-shaped leaf rear sight with mid-range aperture was mounted on the top of the barrel, just forward of the frame and the front sight was an integral pinched blade with a round-top profile. The sights were quite similar to those found on other US carbines of the Civil War period, like the Burnside. The barrel was secured to the forend with a single mounting screw from the bottom and a single blued barrel band. The tang of the frame was marked in two lines: 

REMIGNTON’S. ILION, N.Y.

PAT. DEC. 23, 1863. MAY 3 & NOV 16, 1864.

The markings reference both Rider’s and Geiger’s patents. The guns were an important step for the Remington design team, as they formed the groundwork for the rolling block action. That design would become the most successful single-shot, metallic cartridge military long arm of the mid to late 19^th century and would be used by more countries than any other competing design.

The Type II design used a larger frame and was chambered in the much more powerful .50RF Government cartridge. Other than having a larger and more robust frame and accompanying action, the balance of the Type II guns were essentially the same as the smaller Type I guns, including the use of a 20” barrel.

The US Ordnance Department was sufficiently interested in the design to contract with Remington for 1,000 of these “Type I” small frame “split breech” carbines, to be chambered in .44 rimfire. Unfortunately, all of Remington’s production capacity was tied up in the manufacture of their .44 “New Model” Army percussion revolvers and US contract rifles (the Model 1863 “Zouave”) and US Model 1863 Rifle Muskets. As a result, Remington approached Samuel Norris (formerly of Norris & Clements) who was involved with the Savage Revolving Arms Company. Norris agreed to manufacture the carbines but required a minimum order of 10,000 to make it worth tooling up for the production of the guns. Remington took the risk and placed the order. It was a gamble that worked out, as the order was eventually increased to 5,000 of the small frame, split breech carbines (Type 1), and then an additional order was placed by the Ordnance Department for 15,000 large frame, split breech carbines (Type II) in the newly adopted US government .50 metallic cartridge, which would become known to collectors as the 56-50 Spencer or the .50 Government Rimfire cartridge. At some point during the production process the caliber specification for the small frame carbines was changed from .44RF to .46RF, the same caliber as the majority of the Ballard military carbines and rifles. Deliveries of the .46RF Remington Type 1 Split Breech carbines began at the beginning of 1865, with the majority having been delivered before the end of the Civil War. All of these first guns were delivered within weeks of the close of the conflict. However, the carbines do not appear to have been issued for use during the war. The majority of these small frame guns spent the next five years in storage in US arsenals, with about 1,400 being issued to various state militias and seeing some post-Civil War use. 

In 1870, with the coming of the Franco-Prussian War, the Ordnance Department offered a large number of obsolete and non-standard long arms for sale at public auction. Among the items listed as available at the October 1870 liquidation were some 3,600 of the 5,000 Type I .46 caliber carbines, complete with ammunition. The auction was handled by sealed bid with buyers like Schuyler, Hartley & Graham and Remington competing to acquire the guns. While some sources suggest that the 3,600 .46 caliber carbines offered at that time were sold at that point, disposition records for the 1870s suggest otherwise. Later sales suggest at most 1,337 of the guns were sold in this way.

The Type II, large frame .50 RF carbines did not begin to be delivered until the American Civil War was over. They languished in various arsenals and depots, primarily Springfield and New York, until November of 1870, when Schuyler, Hartley & Graham came calling. They acquired some 14,757 Remington carbines at that time for resale to the French for the Franco-Prussian War. The majority of the guns in this purchase appear to have been the .50 caliber carbines. At the end of 1870 the New York Arsenal showed only 310 of the .50 caliber Remington Carbines on hand. Between April 1875 and January 1876 Herman Boker & Company acquired 3,663 of the .46 caliber Remington carbines for resale, and in February and March of the following year purchase 382 of the .50 caliber Remingtons. These numbers suggest that at most 14,618 of the November Schuyler, Hartley & Graham purchases were .50 carbines, and that at most 1,337 were .46 caliber carbines. In any even the selling prices typically less than a $1 each, well below the initial contract price of $17 each. McAulay lists no further dispositions of Remington split breech carbines in his published research.

The Remington Type II Split Breech .50RF Carbine offered here is in about VERY GOOD+_ to NEAR FINE overall condition. The gun is very crisp and sharp throughout, and is 100% complete, correct and original. The 20” round barrel retains about 30%+ of its original blued finish, with a significant amount of thinning and fading from age, use and handling. The blue is strongest nearest the breech and weakens further down the barrel towards the front sight. The metal shows moderate amounts of scattered surface oxidation and freckled discoloration and some scattered patches of minor surface roughness. Some very light pitting is scattered along the barrel as well, more noticeable nearer the muzzle and on the muzzle’s crown. The color casehardened frame retains about some nice traces of its original case coloring in the protected areas. The majority of the frame has a smoothly oxidized mottled brownish-gray patina with hints of blues and some scattered areas of minor age discoloration. The rear sight retains about 30% of its original bright blue and some of the screws retain traces of their blued finish as well. The bore of the carbine rates about VERY GOOD+. It is mostly bright and crisp with strong rifling, and shows only some moderate frosting, scattered oxidation and some scattered light pitting. The tang of the carbine is clearly marked in two lines:

REMIGNTON’S. ILION, N.Y.

PAT. DEC. 23, 1863. MAY 3 & NOV 16, 1864.

The tail end of the marking on the bottom line is a little weak at the “64” in the second date. The buttplate tang is clearly stamped U.S. and has an M sub-inspection. The block letters A.W.M. are stamped into the top of the stock comb, forward of the buttplate tang, the sub-inspection mark of arsenal sub-inspector Allen W. Mather. The reverse wrist is clearly stamped with a small, italicized P sub-inspection mark and with two very good script cartouches. The first cartouche is a crisp script set of initials are the CGC of arsenal sub-inspector Charles G Curtis and the second set are the JT of arsenal sub-inspector John Taylor. Interestingly, both Curtis and Taylor worked together inspecting martial Henry Rifles during the Civil War. Several other small, single letter sub-inspection marks are present as well, including a W on the left rear sight. The gun is in FINE mechanical condition and the action functions both smoothly and crisply. The stock and forend of the carbine rate about VERY GOOD+ to NEAR FINE as well and are both very attractive. Both pieces of wood retain much of their original finish and show no signs of sanding. The wood shows a moderate number of scattered bumps and dings from service and handling, all of which are relatively minor. 

Overall, this is a really attractive and very crisp example of a rather scarce and historically important Remington Type II .50RF Split Breech Carbine. The majority of these arms were exported to France in 1870, and those that have made their way back to the US over the years are typically in well-used and rough condition. It is not clear if this gun was one of the small number that managed to avoid being sold to the French or one that saw limited service in France and found its way back the United States via a surplus arms dealer like Francis Bannerman & Company. This gun is an important “book end” for any collection of Civil War carbines, as it is the last Civil War carbine pattern to be accepted and delivered to the US Ordnance Department. It is also an important gun for any rolling block collection, as it is the first type of military rolling block to be manufactured and see service and is really the grandfather of all subsequent rolling block designs. This is a wonderful example of a very scarce US military carbine that displays wonderfully and will be a great addition to your antique military arms collection.